Misfits Fan fiction: Tearing Paige
by kita0610
Summary: Misfits is a British science fiction comedy-drama television show, on the network Channel 4, about a group of young offenders sentenced to work in a community service programme, where they obtain supernatural powers after a strange electrical storm. Fan fiction on the original television show which began in 2009.
1. Chapter 1

So, my first day there. No, not at school. Not even at college. Like I should be right now. I was at community service. At the start of my two hundred meaningless hours, anyway. I stood in front of the door, debating on whether to go in or turn around and leg it. Turned out I didn't really have a choice. A hand came down on my shoulder, turning me around to face him.

I'd never seen him before but somehow, he looked familiar. Dark curly hair, light green eyes and a grin that made me want to slap him.

"What?" I demanded, brushing his hand off me, "What do you want?"

He was Irish, of course. They always are, "In a good mood this morning, I see. Who are you?"

"I'm on community service. That's all you need to know."

"I can't imagine what someone like you did to end up here."

I eyed him up and down, taking a step back towards the door, "Looks can be deceiving."

Opening the door, I walked inside, not bothering to look behind me. I could still hear him calling after me as I turned the corner into the locker rooms. I pushed the door open and was greeted with four pairs of unknowing eyes staring at me. There were two guys and two girls. The only thing they all had in common was the fluorescent orange jump-suits they had on. The two girls were different, to say the least. One had her dark hair scraped right back into a tight ponytail, with grey eyes that wanted answers. The other was applying lipstick and had a mirror positioned in the palm of her hand. She glanced at me briefly, her light brown irises drifting back to her reflection once she was done. I recognised one of the guys instantly from when he came to our sixth-form a few years ago. I remembered him telling us he was an Olympic hopeful, which also went to show for his athletic build. I just couldn't place his name. The other guy, I was certain I'd never met before. He was quite short, with piercing blue eyes and dark hair.

"Meet our newest recruit." It was his voice from before, at the entrance.

All of them looked up briefly, before returning to their daily lives of being on community service. It would be my daily life now too. Not that anyone knew. Not my parents. Not any of my friends. They all think I started at college a few weeks ago. Yeah, I wish.

"So, what _is_ your name?"

"Nice try. What's yours?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nathan. This is the rest of the gang, Kelly-" He gestured to the girl by her locker, doing up the zip on her jumpsuit, "That's Curtis-" This was the Olympic hopeful he was introducing to me now, "This is Alisha-" Cue the girl with the mirror looking at me with a faint smile, "And this is Weird Kid. Weird is his first name and Kid- I don't know- maybe that's some kind of middle name..."

"Who are you?" I cut in, "Your name can't really be 'Weird Kid'. No one's parents are that cruel."

"I'm Simon."

I nodded in response, "So, where do I get one of them orange jumpsuits?"

"There were some left in the office," Simon informed, "I can take you there if you-"

"Hang on right there, virgin," Nathan interrupted, "This is not the time to want to get one in with her. Get in line."

"You know, it's so weird that you think I can't hear you."

"Shit. Well then, let's go."

"Alright," I muttered, unsure of what I was getting myself into, "But I swear to Christ, if you make any stupid comments about fucking me..."

"Who said anything like that?" He raised his hands in a term of surrender, "Maybe I don't even _want_ to go there. Maybe I just want us to be friends. Did you think about that?"

"Did _you_?"

A smirk played on his lips, "'Course I didn't."

"Pervert," I breathed, knocking on the door to the office.

The door opened a minute later with a man appearing in the doorway. He had greasy dark hair combed back from his hairline, narrowed brown eyes and a look that could easily kill.

"And who the hell are you?" he spat.

"I'm here for my community service," I explained, "Two hundred hours of it, actually."

"Oh right, the new kid." He threw an orange jumpsuit at me, "Get changed and be out painting the benches in ten minutes."

We walked back to the locker rooms, trying to delay the inevitable.

"So, what did you do? You know, to get community service."

He licked his lips, smiling, "I was just done for eating some pick 'n' mix."

"Bullshit," I rolled my eyes, "There has to be more to it than that."

"There might be," he shrugged, "I could tell you sometime."

"Why not now?"

"We're on community service. And me and you? We're total strangers. You could turn out to be this lunatic I told my entire life story to."

"I'm not asking for your life story. I just wanted to know why someone would get community service for eating a packet of sweets."

He gave me an all-knowing look, "Life can be a cruel mistress."

"Especially when it comes to you," I smiled, pushing the door open to the locker room.

I took off my t-shirt and threw it into the locker, pulling on the jumpsuit over my legs. It clung to me immediately, not wanting to reach up to my shoulders. After several minutes of tugging on the fabric, I was beginning to give up hope.

Nathan had been leaning against the doorframe and now, he pushed himself to his feet and walked over. He took the jumpsuit from me and started to fiddle about with it near my feet.

"Look, it's fine," I insisted, "I can manage."

"Not sure you can," he pulled a face, "It was caught under your shoe."

He pulled the orange piece of clothing over my legs and over my shoulders. His fingers lightly brushed against my stomach as he did the zip up, which sent shivers through me. He pulled my black hair out, letting it fall around my shoulders in loose curls, and gave a tug on the zip of the jumpsuit.

I was pulled closer to him and couldn't find it in myself to push him away.

"Just so you know," he grinned, "I'd definitely fuck you."

"Keep dreaming, lover boy," I whispered, going past him to start on community service.

The benches the probation officer was on about, I realised, were outside the community centre. There were four of them overlooking the river and the houses on the far side of it. The four of them were out there already- Simon, Alisha, Kelly and Curtis. Curtis and Alisha took on a bench each while Simon and Kelly shared the work of painting one between them. I picked up the vat of white paint and carried it over to the desolate bench. I started to paint the first layer on the bench when Nathan appeared a few feet away from me. He took a brush and started coating the surface with a layer of paint.

"So, are you going to tell me why you want to fuck me?" I looked up at him, squinting in the direct sunlight.

"I thought it was obvious."

"Not sure about that," I shook my head, "You might need to actually give me a reason."

"Maybe. I could tell you sometime."

"Shit, not this again. Just tell me, Nathan."

He reached out an arm and streaked the paint across my cheek, "Say yes."

"To what?" I asked, slapping his hand away.

"A drink with me."

I thought about it for a second, putting the brush down. My thumb had a smear of white paint on it. I moved closer to him and ran the paint across his bottom lip.

"I'll think about it. But it _will_ be as mates, yeah?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm into the whole 'friends with benefits' thing. No need to go anywhere beyond that."

"I'm sure there isn't," I started to paint again, glancing at him briefly, "But it's not what I meant. I'll have a drink with you but don't think that means I want to shag you."

"Really?" he checked, "You sure? I won't always be this young and good-looking, you know."

"I'll have to find you when you're old and wrinkly then. Probably on your death bed, so it can be kind of a pity fuck. Will that do it for you?"

"Yeah, that's fine. Just make sure you find me, yeah?"

I chuckled to myself, "I will. But what if your wife's already there? With your kids all grown-up and standing by, while your grandkids run around you?"

"I can give myself a bit of leeway." He looked at me, his light irises holding miles of depth, "What if _you're_ married, though? Still going to want to fuck me when I'm on my death bed?"

"You're different, Nathan," I shrugged, "I'll just have to make an exception for you."

"You know this is a legally-binding fuck pact, right? I'm going to hold you to it."

Looking around at the others, I noticed Curtis and Kelly had almost finished painting their bench and were now mock sword-fighting, using the brushes for weapons. Simon and Alisha kept on with it- well, at least Simon did. Alisha was lying back on the bench, which had barely even been painted in the past few minutes. She had her sunglasses on and her eyes closed, with earphones trailing inside her orange jumpsuit.

"You seriously think when you're going to die, that you'll remember a pact we made years ago? It won't mean anything to you then. You'll have a family- wife and kids."

"I could die tomorrow," he pointed out, cocking his head to one side, "And then, you'd be living with the regret of not shagging me when you had the chance to."

"Yeah, that along with the guilt of breaking our pact." My voice was laced with sarcasm, but he didn't pick up on it.

He let out a chuckle, "I just realised that me and you- we- made a fuck pact already and I don't even know your name."

"It's Paige."


	2. Chapter 2

It had been a few minutes since any of us had uttered a word. The situation was uncomfortable, to say the least, but we had to get through it. We were young offenders who had fucked up their lives and now we were being made to pay for it. I knew most of them had some kind of a criminal record in their name but I didn't. I was let off with a warning, two hundred hours of community service and a metal tag around my right ankle. It was an ASBO.

"Do any of you want to go out for a drink tonight?" Alisha looked at each of us in turn, taking out her phone from the pocket of her jumpsuit.

There was a chorus of "Yeah, sure" and "Whatever" but I hadn't said anything. She turned to look at me, "Want to come?"

"I can't," I shook my head, "Sorry."

"Bullshit," Nathan commented, "What is it that you're so busy doing? And don't say you're trying to avoid me because that's just cruel."

Kelly paused, in mid-joust with Curtis, "But that's what most girls are trying to do."

"See, why would you even say something like that?" Nathan sighed, raking a hand through his dark hair, "That's very hurtful."

"And it's what you deserve."

He glared at me, narrowing his eyes while I tried hard to keep a straight face, "You know, our fuck pact won't play out like it's meant to."

"How do you know?"

The others exchanged quick glances between them, as if it was some kind of a deep, hidden secret. Never to be unearthed. Never to be shared. Especially not with a new young offender who had just started a few hours ago. I could figure out what it was. Using it. Using my power. But that wasn't fair on the rest of them. They had a secret. And they wanted to keep it that way. I'd just have to let them.

"I'm not going to die."

"He means before you," Simon cut in, "He's not going to die before you. Well- well, he might."

"Don't listen to the virgin," Nathan reached out a hand to push him away, "What I meant was-"

Kelly pushed the brush into his stomach, "Have you gone mad? You can't tell her. Not about you or the rest of us."

"We have to tell her. She's going to know sooner or later. It's better she finds out like this."

"Anyone want to tell me what's going on?" My voice broke into their thoughts but only in search for answers.

"I'm immortal," Nathan shrugged, "That's, uh, my power. Kelly can read people's minds, Curtis can rewind time, Weird Kid can turn invisible and Alisha-"

"Hang on, so you're all kind of like superheroes?"

"No, we just have powers," Simon explained, "It all happened last year during this freak storm. We were out doing community service- the five of us."

"What was the storm like?"

"It wasn't normal. None of this is normal. Five young offenders being given powers after a storm. It's a crazy story. No one would believe us. Don't know why we expect you to either." Kelly gestured out to the river, "That's where it started. The storm."

"There were these snowballs falling out of the sky. They were massive. It was real too. Couldn't quite believe it at first. They kept coming down around us, pelting into the ground. I remember shouting and screaming and not knowing what to do..."

Alisha glanced at me, rolling her eyes, "That's when our probation worker decided to get us inside. We ran back to the community centre but, being the dickhead he was, he couldn't open the door. That was when the lightning struck."

"It threw all of us onto the ground," Curtis remembered, "But it was like electricity shooting through me. Going straight through which was strong enough to kill any of us. But it didn't."

"We were fine," Simon added, "I think that was what triggered our powers. None of it would have happened otherwise."

I retold their version of the storm back in my head. It was weird. I knew what they were talking about. I was in that storm too. The same one. There must have been hundreds of people who were affected by that freak storm. Hundreds of people who were living with powers- whether they knew it yet or not. And now I had to tell them about me. My power. A secret for a secret.

"I was in the storm too," I mumbled, "Last year."

"Wait, wait, wait," Nathan turned to me, his eyes narrowed, "Does that mean you have a power too?"

I nodded, hesitantly, "Yeah."

"What is it? You can tell us."

"It's easier if I show you." I looked around at each of them. Nathan with his claimed immortality, Curtis with his ability to turn back time, Simon who could become invisible and Kelly with her power to read minds. The only person whose power I hadn't been told was Alisha's.

Closing my eyes, I focused on her mind. I breathed in and out, trying to not let my heart rate grow any faster. Her power was...instant sexual arousal. That I could demonstrate. I placed my fingers on Nathan's neck, hoping it would work this time.

"Oh, you are so fit! I'm going to fuck you blind, you little beauty! You won't even know what's hit you because that's how big my-" I let my hand drop by my side and the others exchanged glances between themselves.

"So your power is the same as mine?" Alisha raised an eyebrow, "So much for being unique."

"No, it's not like yours. I can sort of 'borrow' other people's powers for a short amount of time and then it just doesn't work anymore."

"Does that mean you've taken my power away?"

"It's power mimicry. I can't take any of your powers away. The most I can do is use it for a while."

"How long is 'a while'?"

"About an hour," I replied, "Sometimes less."

Simon turned to Nathan, a grin on his face, "Didn't you say you were going to fuck her blind?"

"I thought we were friends, you ungrateful little twat," he sighed, turning to Curtis, "Powers, man, they mess you up. You don't know what you're saying half the time."

"Doesn't make much of a change for you then," he smirked.

"Why is the whole world against me today? First it was Paige." Nathan gestured towards me, "Then Kelly and Weird Kid, and now you."

"Maybe the whole world isn't against you," Alisha shrugged, "Maybe you're against the whole world." She picked up on the rest of us staring at her, confused, "What? I read it in this month's _Cosmo_."

"No, no, I don't believe in all that philosophical shit, right? I just want to know why people want to upset me. I mean, I'm universally popular and well-liked."

"Well, I can think of a few reasons."

"Definitely."

"Me too."

"Shit-loads."

It was Simon who let him know, "You annoy people."

The rest of us struggled not to laugh. I bit the inside of my cheeks, pursing my lips to stop myself from having a laughing fit on the concrete ground.

Nathan raised an eyebrow at him, "Oh and you'd know all about being...mental."

"Christ, just let it go," I sighed, "When do you all use your powers then?"

There were shrugs and mumbles coming from each of them, in response. I knew there was more to that story right then. More to it than a random freak storm and powers that were given to young offenders with a criminal record to their name. I didn't know how to find out what it was though. We finished painting the bench and I went off to get a 'Wet Paint' sign to leave nearby. On my way back, there were hushed voices coming from each of them and there were a few nods and sighs.

I focused on Kelly, hiding among the benches in the distance from where they were. I picked up on her way of telepathy, resting a hand over my chest to steady my breathing. But now, I could hear what all of them were thinking:

'How do we know if we can trust her? She could tell someone.'

'We need to forget about it. Get on with the rest of our lives.'

'No one can find out. Not now. Not ever.'

It was Nathan who gave me the answer. The answer I was sure I'd misheard:

'It was a horrific, life-changing, shared experience that brought us together. The situation. We killed our probation worker!'

I didn't know what to do. I could run. I could get the next flight to Who-gives-a-fuck-as-long-as-it-gets-me-away-from-these-psychopaths. But I didn't. My feet carried me back towards them, their voices dying down to a mere whisper.

"I-I know what happened," I muttered, "You lot killed your probation worker."

"How did you-?" Simon began.

"I want to know why you did it. So you can either tell me or I can tell someone else about it."

They were hesitant for a while, exchanging glances with each other. Alisha fiddled with the zip on her jumpsuit; Curtis stuffed his hands into the pockets, staying mute; Simon looked around at the others, hoping one of them would end the bitter silence; Nathan gave me a half-smirk and took the sign from me.

"He was insane," Alisha shrugged, "The storm changed him. He wanted to kill us. All of us. It was done in self-defence."

"We couldn't tell anyone 'cause they wouldn't believe us," Kelly started, "There was another guy on community service with us. Our probation worker killed him first. We thought about going to the police and telling them about the body but they wouldn't believe us. We're young offenders. It's in our nature to be violent and aggressive. They'd find a way to pin both the murders on us."

"That's why you didn't tell anyone?" I checked.

"Yeah. Didn't know who we could trust. Not the police. Not other probation workers after him. But can we trust you? We told you the truth."

"I'm not going to tell anyone. It's not my business to."


	3. Chapter 3

An orange jumpsuit. It was the first thing I saw when I woke up. It was hanging from my bedroom door, with no intention of shrinking in the wash or getting mauled by savage dogs in the neighbourhood. I hauled myself out of bed, realising it had just gone past seven. I was forced to take a cold shower, forcing the taps either way in a desperate attempt to get hot water. I remembered something about off-peak times for water supply and decided to give up before the tap came away in my hand. Getting changed into a graphic t-shirt and denim shorts, I threw the jumpsuit into my bag. I was out of the flat in half an hour, picking up a grapefruit for breakfast on the way out.

I walked down the street at around eight in the morning, my fingers numb from the cold of an early winter. I plugged a set of earphones into my ears, scrolling through the limited choice of music on my phone. There weren't many people out and about at this hour. Not many cars roaming the streets either. I could see druggies from my estate moping around the car park, eyes wide, clearly deprived of sleep. They all hid in the shadows, passing around a joint.

"Paige!"

I froze in my tracks, turning around to face him. I'd been trying to avoid him for the last few months. And, here he was, ruining my efforts of getting on with the rest of my life.

"Oh, just go fuck yourself," I hissed through gritted teeth.

He actually had the nerve to laugh at me, "Can't, honey. The male anatomy doesn't let us do that. Look, what I did was a mistake. Get over it."

"And you know all about mistakes, don't you? Seeing as your parents made a big one."

His irises burned into mine, "See you around, Paige."

"Over my dead body." I closed my eyes, wishing the situation away. Wishing him away.

I made my way out of the estate and turned the corner into another road, passing a set of traffic lights and a newsagent before I found myself overlooking the harbour. The dreaded grey building was just ahead of me now and I slowed down by impulse, trying to avoid being the first one to arrive for their community service. The town was starting to wake up now, with the faint sound of a car engine in the distance and a pair of teenagers sleeping outside, stretched out on one of the benches near the river.

The door that led inside the building was half-open, which was unusual. Maybe one of the others was already here, getting changed in the locker room. But when I went to check, there was no one in there. No one at all. A loud crash from inside one of the rooms caught my attention. I took a deep breath, refusing to believe I was alone in here, with the exception of an intruder. An intruder that could just as well turn out to be a raving psychopath with an axe. And here I was, unarmed and edging my way down the corridor. I took out the jumpsuit from my bag, hoping it would act as some kind of weapon in my time of need. Maybe I could strangle him to death with it or something.

Throwing open the door, I breathed out a sigh of relief when I realised it was only Nathan. He stood in front of me, wearing nothing but boxers, with a frying pan in one hand. As you do.

"What the hell are you doing in here?"

He held out the frying pan, waving it about, "Trying to make breakfast."

I noticed the heap of cutlery and saucepans tangled on the floor a few metres away from him. Walking up to him, I took the frying pan from his hand, placing it on top of the hob.

"Here, let me do it." Turning the gas on, I cracked an egg into the pan, "Scrambled or omelette?"

"Omelette. Do you need a hand?"

I smiled to myself, "If you could put on some trousers, that'd be very helpful."

"Not distracting you, am I?" he grinned, throwing on a pair of black skinny jeans.

He came over and took over the pan from me, tossing the omelette into the air. I set up the table, getting orange juice from the fridge.

A few minutes later, we sat down at the table, the frying pan between us. I cut out a sliver of the omelette and dropped it onto my plate, taking a sip of orange juice. It tasted...strange. The taste of it washed inside my mouth for a while, before I ran over to the sink to spit it out.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you," Nathan began, "The juice has been in that fridge for about a year."

I gave him a dark look, starting to eat, "Is there any bread here?"

"Does this look like the fucking Ritz?"

"For that, you miss out on a share of my grapefruit." I produced it from my coat pocket, setting it down on the table.

"What is it?" he asked, tilting his head to one side.

"Fruit. The clue's sort of in the name. How come you prefer an omelette to scrambled, then?"

"It's a less violent way to go, isn't it? Imagine if you were scrambled to death. It'd be blood and bones everywhere."

I glanced at him, cutting into the grapefruit, "Here's a question. Do you actually think before you open your mouth?"

He shook his head, "The way I see it is, there needs to be more people like me."

"I'm struggling to get my head around that, but go on."

"If people always thought before they said anything, no one would be honest. They would all be lying through their teeth. And for what? Just to make people feel better about themselves."

"So you've never lied to anyone then?" I challenged, offering him half of my grapefruit.

He took it from me, "I'm only human, you know. Everyone lies when they need to. But if I told you there isn't anything I'd like more than to fuck you on the sofa right now, I wouldn't be lying."

I pulled a face at him, "Nathan, can I ask you something?"

"About us shagging on the sofa? It's fine with me."

I rolled my eyes, "No, it's not about that. I wanted to know if you slept here last night."

"I live here, at the community centre," he shrugged, "Have for about a year now. Ever since mum kicked me out to stay with her boyfriend."

"I didn't know. I'm sorry."

"No problem. So, do I at least get a pity fuck then?"

Picking up the frying pan, I dropped it into the sink, "I'm very tempted but you couldn't do the washing up first, could you? I think guys who challenge gender-stereotype roles like that really turn me on."

His sea green eyes held onto mine, "You're being sarcastic, aren't you?"

"We're in an equal society, Nathan. I did the cooking so you can do the washing up." I gave him a small smile and picked up my bag and jumpsuit, walking out into the corridor.

It was still quiet around the community centre but when I pushed through the door to the locker room, the four of them were already in there.

"Probation worker wants to see us," Kelly told me, "A new community scheme or something."

"Right, thanks." I pulled the jumpsuit over my clothes, following the others out into the main hall. Nathan joined us a few minutes later, doing up the zip of his orange jumpsuit.

"Today," the probation worker began, "You lot are going to start doing some good. You're going to spend time with kids in care. Help them out from time to time."

I noticed the back of Nathan's jumpsuit at that moment, as I was stood behind him. Where the rest of us had 'Community Payback' written on it, he'd crossed out the 'Pay' and replaced it with 'Blow'.

"Community blowback?" I asked, my voice hushed, "Very original."

"I thought so too," he grinned, turning around to look at me.

"You two." The probation worker narrowed his eyes, "If you have a question, you might as well share it with the rest of us."

"I have one," Nathan raised an arm, "If a bear and a shark had a fight, who would win?"

The probation worker glared at him, death in mind, but carried on, "They're waiting for you in there. Make conversation and play nice. I get one bad comment about any of you, I'm holding each and every one of you responsible."

We made our way into the room, where they were all occupied with something. A few of them were painting, flicking paint at each other while they were at it. Others were playing games- the Monopoly, Trivial Pursuit and Pictionary boards were out and notes of paper money were being exchanged back and forth.

"Look, just try and treat them with a bit of sensitivity, yeah?" the probation worker looked at each of us, in turn, "Even that one."

He gestured to a teenage girl in the corner, about fifteen years old. She held an embroidered blanket close to her, cradling it in her arms. Her light brown hair reached just below her shoulders and she had butterfly clips to pin her fringe back. As her piercing blue eyes met mine from across the room, her lips curved upwards into a smile.

"Think you can manage that?" he murmured, leaning in towards me.

The six of us dispersed out, going over to different people. I started towards the girl I saw before when Nathan appeared in front of me, holding out a chess piece, "Going to the mental one? I like your style."

"You don't even know if she's mental," I pointed out, "Try and play nice? That's like asking you to give up your personality."

"Hey, I can be nice. To an extent."

"And who would that be to? Weird Kid?" My eyes drifted over to Simon, who was trying to blend in with the rest of them, "Or Mental over there?"

He smirked at me, "I'm nice to you, aren't I?"

I narrowed my eyes at him, walking over to the girl. Her fingers gripped tightly onto the blanket when she noticed me. She let her eyes fall away from mine, almost frightened.

"Hi. I'm Paige," I whispered, smiling. "What's your name?"

She moved in her seat, facing me, "Sophia."


	4. Chapter 4

It's in human nature to judge people before we get to know them. It happens by instinct. And, here I was, determined not to let that happen with Sophia. She wasn't a mental case. I knew she wasn't. She was just alone and wanted to be loved. Like most of us do.

"Is there a story to the blanket then?" I asked, lying back on the sofa with her.

She bit her lip, "Not really. It just makes me feel safe. I found it lying around the care home and kept it with me. Everything seems okay now."

"What happened before you found it?"

"I used to have panic attacks. Quite often," she whispered, as though it was a hidden secret, "And then I started waking up in the middle of night, screaming until my voice was gone."

"Do you know why?"

"I wish I did. Maybe it would have stopped then. But I could never remember. It kept getting worse until I found this." She stroked a cheek with a part of the blanket, murmuring into it.

"At least you have it now," I pointed out, "So it's with you."

"It's more than that. It's like a part of me. I can't leave it, in case something goes wrong."

"So you take it everywhere with you?"

She nodded, "People think I'm weird. They call me mental to my face. But I'm not."

"I don't think you are."

Her eyes softened and she held out the blanket to me. I took it from her, running my fingers over the embroidery and thread. It was a beautiful pastel colour, with midnight blue thread and stitched on buttons. It felt warm and protective so I kind of understood why Sophia liked to keep it with her. The scent enveloped through it was lavender, which made me fall in love with it.

"I sleep with a bag of lavender under my bed," she explained, "It helps me fall asleep."

I handed it back to her, smiling, "I might try that sometime."

The sound of footsteps coming towards us caught my attention. I looked up and realised it was a middle-aged woman, with a name tag pinned onto her blouse, "Sophia, we have to go now."

"I'll see you later. Don't forget this." I picked up her blanket from the sofa.

She reached out a hand to take it, "Bye."

The six of us cleared up the room after they left, putting away the felt-tips and board games. Kelly lit a cigarette and passed it around, each of us taking a couple of drags on it.

A few days later, when the group of kids came back, Sophia wasn't with them. The care worker told me Sophia had a panic attack last night and was taking some rest back at the home. And that was the catalyst to what turned out to become a week in sheer, adulterated hell for the rest of us.

It started when we were inside the locker room, getting changed into our jumpsuits. They left me and Simon alone for a while, grabbing sponges and buckets for the community service.

He fiddles with the zip of his jumpsuit, pulling it up, "Paige?"

"What?"

"D-do you like food?"

I stare at him, raising an eyebrow, "Do I like food?"

"I-I mean eating," his hand travelled up to his forehead, "We could go for a pizza and some garlic dough balls."

"Are you asking me out, Simon?" A faint smile appeared on my lips, even though I tried to disguise it.

He nodded, hesitantly, his grey irises searching for an answer, "I think about you. Not just since-"

"You think about me?" I raised an eyebrow, "Have you been wanking over me?"

He lightly shook his head in response.

"I'm flattered, really. But I don't think it's a good idea."

I walked past him, heading out of the locker room. When I met up with the others, only Kelly and Nathan were there. They were armed with sponges, mops and buckets, ready to get started on cleaning the graffiti sprayed on the windows outside the community centre.

"Where are Curtis and Alisha?"

Kelly shrugged, "Probably wanking themselves off somewhere."

"Themselves?" I checked.

"It's 'cause of Alisha's power," she explained, "They can't actually touch so they just at each other and wank themselves off."

"Right, okay then."

Curtis appeared at that moment, from one of the rooms further down the corridor. He came up to us, death streaked in his eyes, "Do any of you know where Simon is?"

"In the locker room, I think."

That was when Simon emerged from behind the door, fidgeting with the collar of the jumpsuit. Curtis flew towards him, grabbing his collar and delivering a blow to his cheek.

"I should finish you!"

"I-I'm sorry," he stammered, raising an arm in defence.

"Why did you do it? Why did you hurt Alisha like that?" Curtis demanded, pushing him against the wall.

Simon frowned in confusion, "I never hurt her-"

"Don't fucking lie!" He threw Simon against the wall, which caused him to cough up blood.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Kelly pushed him away, standing in between them.

Alisha followed close behind, not knowing what was going on.

"What happened to all the blood?" Curtis asked, narrowing his eyes.

She shook her head, "What?"

Kelly turned Simon's head and we realised the extent to his injuries. He had a cut, bloody lip and a bruise appearing on his right cheek. The wall behind him was spattered with blood- _his_ blood.

"Did you hit him?"

Curtis turned to face her, "He attacked Alisha."

"Er, no, he didn't," Alisha cut in.

"You were in the toilet. Your face was all messed up. You said he attacked you a couple of minutes ago."

"What're you talking about?"

Kelly raised a finger at Curtis, meaning business this time, "You hit him again. I'll kick your balls back into your stomach, mate."

"He couldn't have done that to Alisha," I insisted, handing Simon a tissue, "He was with me in the locker room. I thought he'd been wanking over me."

The rest of them turned to face him, wanting an answer.

"I haven't!" he spoke through gritted teeth.

"Well, that's not very convincing," Nathan added.

Kelly's eyes widened as she turned to face him, "She gave you a blow job?"

"What?" My eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"I read his mind. He says you sucked him off."

Nathan looked at me for a second, "What the fuck's going on?"

"I didn't do it. If I was going to suck someone's cock, trust me, it wouldn't be his."

"Aw. Are you going to cry now?"

"Shut up, Nathan," I bit my lip, feeling uneasy, "Look, I didn't mean it like that."

"Just be straight with us, yeah?" Kelly asked, "Did she give you a nosh?"

Simon paused for a second, then nodded.

"Whoever it was that sucked you off, it wasn't me."

"Something weird's going on." Curtis' eyes flickered to each of us, in turn.

"Whatever it is, I'm guessing it's his fault," Nathan shrugged, gesturing to Simon, "I'm going to get something to eat."

He made his way past us, down the corridor and disappeared around the corner. Probably in search for one of the vending machines in the community centre. We heard the toilet flushing next and a figure walked out a minute later.

"Ah, I don't know what is going on with my guts," he groaned, flapping an old newspaper in the air, "It's all hot cross buns and Easter eggs when Jesus gets resurrected."

It was- It was Nathan.

"That wasn't Nathan?" Simon made sure, even though we all knew it wasn't.

"None of it actually happened. Me giving Simon a blow job, Alisha getting beaten up by him. It was the same person who was pretending to be Nathan."

"Seriously?" he checked, looking at me, "I spend a few hours in the toilet and I miss all that? Life is just passing me by."

"Who was it, then?" Alisha folded her arms across her chest, "If it wasn't Nathan, who was it?"

"I think it's a shape-shifter. They can take on other people's appearance," Simon informed, "I saw it in an episode of Star-Trek."

"So what? That's their power? They can shape-shift into other people?"

"We should probably watch more of that science-fiction," Curtis suggested, "Might actually figure out what's going on round here."

Simon fiddled with the zip of his jumpsuit, which had broken off in the fight, "We should set up a password that we can say to each other so we know it's us."

"Monkey slut," Nathan contributed, nodding.

"We're not having 'monkey slut' as a password." Alisha narrowed her eyes.

"What are the chances of that coming up in a normal conversation? Kind of low, right?"

"Oh, just go with it," Kelly shrugged, "Monkey slut."

The group of us walked back towards the main hall, trying to figure out who the shape-shifter was. Everything that happened to us in the last hour was insane. I knew it was.

It occurred to me that there was no way out of this. There wasn't a metaphorical light at the end of the tunnel. Nor a hasty awakening from this ongoing nightmare. Because it wasn't make-believe anymore. It was real life.

And that was when I saw her. A young girl with auburn hair that fell past her shoulders like a waterfall. Her piercing eyes burnt into mine as she shook her head, stepping away from us.

"I just wanted you to be my friend," she whispered, running towards the office.

It was Sophia.


	5. Chapter 5

"It's her." We started running towards her, making our way to the office.

"Hey!" Nathan called out, but she had no intention of stopping.

The probation worker turned the corner, walking towards us, "Ah, I will see you tomorrow."

Nathan took a step closer to him, "Yeah, good one. Very convincing."

"What?" His eyes flickered over the rest of us.

"Kelly!" Nathan took a step back from him, gesturing to her.

"You think you can dick around with us, do you?" She threw a punch at his face, striking him around his mouth.

The rest of us leapt forwards and Kelly and Curtis pushed him into a stack of chairs, which fell onto the floor. His head hit the ground seconds later, a smattering of blood near where he was.

"Change back into your fucking self!" Kelly enunciated each word with a kick to his abdomen.

"Kick her again! Kick her again!"

The probation worker reached up and grabbed Nathan by his collar, throwing him down on the floor. He let out a warped scream as they fought each other, trying to regain control.

"She's got me!" The probation worker tightened his fingers around Nathan's neck, trying to strangle him.

Kelly and Curtis began to pull him off by any means. It didn't work. The probation worker carried on, relentless, until Alisha ran forwards, placing her hand on his shoulder.

He immediately turned around, the blue veins throbbing in his left cheek, nothing but lust in his eyes, "Lick my salty balls, you cock-loving, ball-sucking bitch!"

"Shut up!" she cried, running back towards me and Simon.

Kelly picked up a fire extinguisher from the side of the room and struck the probation worker with it. He was pushed off Nathan and hit the ground a few feet away from us. We took a step back when we noticed the blood from his head streaked across the floor. Alisha grimaced when she saw it, her hands lightly covering her mouth. I forced myself to not look at him in the state he was in but couldn't help it. Kelly dropped the fire extinguisher by her feet while Nathan got to his feet, wiping the blood onto his jumpsuit. Simon and I reached down to his limp body on the floor, checking for a pulse. There wasn't one.

"He's dead."

"Oh, fuck." Kelly gasped.

Nathan closed his eyes, turning away from the rest of us.

"We killed him," Curtis shook his head in disbelief.

"Look, we had to do it. She was going to kill me." Nathan sighed, trying to come to a good enough reason.

"You're immortal," Curtis reminded him.

Then it dawned upon all of us, "I thought she'd turn back into herself when she died."

We all exchanged glances, refusing to accept the blatant truth.

"There's no way that's actually the probation worker. Right?" Nathan checked.

Alisha nodded, hesitantly, "I think it might be."

We followed her gaze to inside the office, where through the open blinds we could see her. We could see Sophia.

"Can we please stop killing our probation workers?"

And that was the first time I noticed Curtis using his power from the storm. His power of turning back time when he did something he regretted.

We were back in the corridor and she was stood in front of us, a defeated look in her eyes.

"I just wanted you to be my friend," she whispered, starting to run in the direction of the office.

The rest of us followed her in pursuit and we came across the probation worker, whistling an unfamiliar tune as he walked towards us, "Ah, I will see you tomorrow."

"Wait!" Curtis insisted.

"Right, yeah, good one. Very convincing," Nathan shook his head.

Curtis pulled him back, "It's not her. Look, I'll explain it later."

"What's going on?" The probation worker glared at him, wanting an answer.

There was an audible mutter of "Nothing" from the six of us which just added fuel to his suspicions. "You're obviously lying. But it's five o' clock and I couldn't give a shit."

We waited until he disappeared around the corner before we started to run towards the office. Pushing our way inside, we realised she wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"Where did she go?" Curtis asked, his eyes darting around the room.

Simon gestured to a small rodent on the floor, a few metres away from us, "She's turned into a mouse."

It scampered off behind one of the filing cabinets, which Simon and Curtis pushed over, revealing a small hole in the skirting board. She had to be somewhere in there.

That was also when Nathan had his 'eureka' moment, "Get some cheese!"

"Are you being serious?" I checked. And sadly, he was.

Just minutes later, me, Alisha and Kelly were sitting the chairs outside the office. The boys were inside, armed with a hockey stick, a wrench and a baseball bat. There was also now a stick of cheese outside the gap in the skirting board which the boys were hoping would lure her out.

"What's with you and this girl, then?" Alisha turned to face me.

"I talked to her a couple of days ago. She was one of the kids in care. People think she's weird, mental even. It gets to her quite a bit."

"Do you think she's mental?"

"No. I think she's just alone and needs someone to understand her. To accept her for being different to other people."

"So, let me get this right," Kelly sighed, "It wasn't you who gave Simon a blow job. And it wasn't Simon who beat Alisha up. It was this girl doing it all. But why?"

"No idea. I guess we're just going to have to ask her."

A shout from Nathan alerted us she was done with nesting in the skirting board, "Mouse!" All hell broke loose in the office, with paper flying from one side of the room to the other and the three boys using their 'weapons' to destroy all the electrical equipment in there. We then saw Nathan had climbed on top of the table, hitting the printer with his baseball bat. They hurtled out of there as the mouse scampered across the floor, trying to discover a new place to hide in.

"Split up! Find her!" Curtis shouted, disappearing into one of the rooms.

I made my way down the corridor, grabbing an abandoned fishing rod from the side. The ceiling lights flickered for a while, leading me into one of rooms. There was no one in there. No mouse. No Sophia. The next thing I heard was the clanging of metal and muffled shouting coming from the locker room. I raced inside there, where I noticed Simon and Nathan struggling against each other's hold.

"Help!" Nathan called out, "Paige, it's him! She's got control of Weird Kid."

"He's lying. I'm not her. I'm...me."

I tucked a lock of hair behind my ear, raising the fishing rod, "What's the password?"

"It's no use. Monkey slut's blown," Nathan told me, "He heard me use it before."

Simon let go of him, taking a step back, "She could be any one of us."

"You're just going to have to prove it. Use your power."

"What, so you want to kill me and see if I come back to life?" he asked, "You do it first. Mimic someone else's power."

I sighed, focusing on Alisha- wherever she was- so I could use her power. I placed my fingers on Simon's neck and he instantly went into a sexual frenzy.

The blue veins on his neck stood out against his ivory skin, "Uh, I want to rub my cock in your hairy armpit."

"Ugh," I pulled a face at him, taking my hand away from his neck, "Happy now?"

"Cock, armpit," Nathan shook his head, "It wasn't pretty."

Simon hit his side with the wrench, "It's him, Paige. Trust me. I need to get you away from here. I-I can't let anything happen to you."

A plan was beginning to form itself at the back of my mind. It could sort out everything that was going on. But it also had the potential to tear it all apart.

"Fine," I agreed, "Let's just go from here."

Nathan coughed up blood, slamming his fist against the locker, "No, no, Paige. You can't. You can't go with her. She's lying to you."

"It's okay. Simon, will you take me home? I mean, we live on the same estate so..."

He nodded, "Yeah, sure."

I grabbed him by the collar of his jumpsuit and pushed him to one side, "Me and Simon don't live on the same estate. But you didn't know that, did you, Sophia?"

"That was genius," Nathan backed up, walking towards us.

She let out a piercing scream as she changed back into her own body. Her eyes were streaked with dried tears and her hair was matted with blood, "I'm so sorry."

"Why did you do it?" I asked, pushing her hair back, "You can tell me."

"She's mental," Nathan mumbled, not quietly enough.

I could feel her growing tense and turned around, "Such a fucking prick."

A tear leaked out of her eye, "I had a panic attack three days ago. It started up again and they come and go every so often. The blanket doesn't help anymore."

"What happened? Did you lose it?"

"I let you hold it. That day when I came," she reminded me, "I don't think I was meant to. I felt more and more empty that day. Like I was dying and nothing could help me. You took it away."

"Took what? I don't get it."

"That feeling of being loved and protected. The only thing that could stop me from being like this. It's with you now. And I can't stop until I take it back."

I shook my head, not wanting to believe her, "What do you mean?"

"I have to kill you," she breathed, placing a finger on my lips, "I didn't mean for it to happen like this. I just wanted you to be my friend. I'm so sorry."

She got a plastic bag and covered my head, tightening it around my neck. I could feel myself dying with every breath I struggled to take. Nathan pushed her into the side of a locker, which released the hold on the plastic bag. I slid it over my head, rushing over to where they were.

They were fighting it out and it was over before I could even take in what had happened. Nathan threw her against the pipes, only he messed up on his aim. A jagged edge of the pipe went straight through her stomach, protruding on the other side of her body.

I tore my eyes away from the bloody sight, not knowing if being able to rewind time would make a difference now.


	6. Chapter 6

I sat in the living room of an old people's home, fingers digging into my wrist. The probation worker sent us here for community service. It was a scheme to get us to be more respectful and caring towards other people. With normal young people, that might have worked. With young offenders, it didn't stand a chance. The six of us were told to wait in here until they were convinced we weren't going to play indoor hockey with a set of false teeth.

I couldn't get the image of her out of my mind. The broken edge of the pipe sticking out of her as blood dribbled out of her lips. It was a haunting reminiscence, forever there. We dumped her body in the river, paddling out there in the early hours of the morning.

"I got to tell you, I quite like the whole immortality thing." Nathan decided.

"You really think so?" Alisha raised an eyebrow, "So what, you'll have to get a job and work forever?"

Curtis nodded at her, adding, "You could go a hundred years without getting laid."

"Everyone you love will die." Simon pointed out.

"Yeah, whatever," Nathan shrugged, "I have a plan, right? To join the circus when we're done with community service."

Kelly pulled a face at him, "What the hell are you going to do there?"

"They can throw knives at me, shoot me in the head. Even push swords into me. You know, people will pay good money to see that shit. Then I'll be making serious cash. And where the cash goes, the pussy follows. No offence, ladies."

Kelly and Alisha glared at him in disgust. I looked out at the distant lights on the horizon, debating on how many people had used their powers to kill someone.

Curtis glanced at the dead body, covered in a refuse bag, "I thought we were through with this shit."

"This week's been mental," Nathan shook his head, "We almost killed another probation worker. Weird Kid got his first blow job. It's almost the weekend. Let's just get it over and done with."

Alisha stopped, putting down the oars, "Right, this is far enough."

"It's time." Nathan and Simon pulled the dead body over the side of the boat so it dropped into the water with an audible splash, the ripples from it dispersing outwards. My eyes locked onto the refuse bag, convinced that her blood was seeping out of it. But when I looked again, there was nothing. I was slowly going insane. I could feel it.

A nurse calling my name broke me out of the recollection. I signed in at the front desk and was then led up a flight of stairs, with Nathan in tow. The nurse had on a white uniform, with red stripes outlining her pockets and sleeves, as she led us into one of the rooms. The smell of talcum powder hit me instantly but there was another scent too. It smelt like...lavender.

"This is Alfred," she introduced us to him, "Most of us just call him Alfie."

He seemed to be asleep, his lips curving upwards into a faint smile. His eyes were closed and his hands lay by his side, gently resting on the pale coloured sheets.

"Thinking about the mental girl?" Nathan asked, once the nurse had left us to get on with it.

A lie seemed easier to get out for now, "No."

"I'm pretty sure that breached the terms of my ASBO."

"We don't tell anyone about it, yeah?" I checked, even though it was already sort of a given.

"Yeah. You get used to it. Shit like this happens to us most of the time."

I shook my head, "There was something about her. Something that told me she was innocent. And she was, Nathan. She could have just stayed away from us and everything would have been fine. Her dead body wouldn't be floating in that river and-"

"There's no going back now," he reminded me, "I'm just as screwed as you are. I was the one who actually killed her. I'm probably more screwed."

"You had to," I assure him, "In a way."

"I think we can get away with it."

"Are you serious? No, sooner or later, someone's going to find out. About everything. About our powers. About your probation worker. About Sophia."

He glanced at me, "So what're we going to do then?"

"You tell me. We're a bunch of young offenders who go around picking up litter and doing their community service with old-timers, like Alfie here," I gestured. "No one knows about us."

"Will it be like that forever?"

"Yeah, for you. You're not going to die. I guess we could...become real super heroes."

"Us lot as super heroes?" he echoed, dismissing the idea from his mind. "No offence, but in what kind of fucked-up world would that be allowed to happen?"

"In _our_ kind of fucked up world- where young offenders can become super heroes and electrical freak storms can give us powers. I mean, it's just not normal."

"You know what I think?"

I hesitated, taking an education guess, "That what I'm saying is a load of bullshit?"

"No." His light green irises studied mine, "I think crap like this only happens in America. This will all die down. Before you know it, we'll be back to the same old boring shit."

"Maybe," I considered, my eyes drifting around the room. I was taking it all in. There was a double bed pushed up against the wall, in which Alfie was resting. An oak bedside table was there, on top of which was a black and white photo from the war and a birthday card for his ninetieth a couple of days ago. A dresser stood a few metres away, with several blurred photos lined up on top of it. An oak style desk lay in the corner of the room, gathering dust. There was an old television set placed on it, along with a kettle and clean mugs. Two armchairs were positioned away from his bed, facing each other, and the two of us decided to sit there.

"Is he dead?" I stuck out a foot and prodded the body under the duvet, "I think he's dead."

Nathan stooped down beside him, "She's stealing your pension!"

His eyes flew open in surprise as he tried to get his bearings right. Alfie sat up in his bed, his hands trembling with confusion. He looked at both of us in turn, struggling to recognise either of us. His thin wisps of hair was combed back, a powder-grey shade. He had jaded eyes, which held years of life and knowledge. His aged face was creased with uncertainty, fading away in the distance. He had on a ragged pin-striped night shirt and his misshapen fingers pulled the duvet closer to him.

"Who are you two?" he croaked, waiting for an answer.

"I'm Nathan. Oh, and this is Paige."

"So, are you volunteering here? At the care home, I mean."

"You could say that," he shrugged, "But we're here on community service. Old people, you know. They just give you so much to look forward to. And they're...they're old, you know."

Alfie chuckled to himself, "What did you do?"

"I sexually assaulted a ninety-year old woman." Nathan turned to me, a grin appearing on his face, "And Paige here carried out a robbery in an old people's home."

"That's funny," I cut in, meaning anything but.

"Other people didn't seem to think so. God rest their souls." He shook his head, "No, no, I was actually done for eating some pick 'n' mix."

"Right. Of course you were. You're a funny young lad. Don't lose that."

He caught me looking at the photo on his bedside table. I was trying to figure out which of the army officers was a young Alfie. No such luck. He picked it up, wiping the glass frame with the corner of his nightshirt and replaced it, beckoning me towards him. The photo was of fifteen men, aged from their early-twenties to their late-forties. It was captioned 'Alfred with his comrades, 1942'. The men were dressed in their military uniforms and some of them had medals pinned to their chest. There were no weapons or bombs illustrated in the photo- nothing to show what had caused the devastating aftermath of the war.

"I was doing my national service," he explained, gesturing to the photo.

Nathan frowned in confusion, "National service, what's that?"

"Ah, it's what you lot should be doing instead of eating pick 'n' mix," he chuckled to himself, quite amused, "In my day, you had to join the army for two years- whether you liked it or not."

"What and you just did it?"

He nodded, "Of course. They were happy times. All gone now. You lot have it easy these days. Those soldiers; they were the only family I had."

"I don't have a family either," I whispered, glancing at him, "But I don't like to talk about it."

A volunteer appeared through the door, leaving a pile of washing on the armchair. She was young, probably in her early twenties, and was of average height. Her light blonde curls just reached her shoulder and she was wearing a floral print dress. She had irises the colour of ebony wood and full rouged lips. The name tag she had on told us she was 'Lily'.

"Having a good time?" she gave Alfie a warm smile.

He nodded, in response, "These two are alright."

Nathan was mesmerised by her. His eyes followed her as she moved around the room, placing his clothes into the dresser. When she left, he stood up gesturing to the door.

"Got to see a volunteer about a shag," he murmured in my ear.

I sighed, "Don't be too long."

"Not up to me." He had a sly grin on his face, "The siren call of the blow job renders all men powerless. It's how girls trick you into marrying them."

"Is that right?" I turned to look at him.

He leaned against the doorframe, lifting his shirt an inch. His pale stomach came into view as he tilted his head to the side, "You know you would."

And it was only when I was sure he'd gone after her that I said, "Maybe."


	7. Chapter 7

So I was left behind, with Alfie, doing community service. Nathan had gone and was probably fucking the volunteer in an empty room. This was fucking typical of life to give me the crap end of the deal.

"Paige, was it?" Alfie's words threw me back into reality, "Would you sit with me?"

"Y-Yeah, sure." I perched on the edge of the duvet, feeling uncomfortable around him. Alfie took out a newspaper from the drawer in his bedside table, smoothing out the creases.

A faded picture of a woman, in her mid-twenties, came into view. She had dark hair that fell in curls around her shoulders and was smiling into the Polaroid camera taking the snapshot. Something in the background caught my attention- a black and white photo. It was a group picture of fifteen young men in army uniform, some of them with medals pinned on. And then it dawned on me as my eyes drifted towards the framed photograph on his bedside table: it was the same print.

"Did you know her?"

"She was the woman of my dreams." His fingers lightly brushing over her photo, "Still is, to be honest. But it was a long time ago."

"What happened?" I tried not to pry into the history but it was easier said than done.

"She passed away that year. She used to work as a nurse in an old people's home, like this one. There was a fire and they were trying to get everyone out. I was a fireman back in the day, when I came back from the army. We were meant to have a proper church wedding that August but it never happened. The fire rescue service were sent there and they all told me she was still inside, trapped somewhere. I went in, pushed my way through to where she was. But there was another person in there, one of the OAPs who refused to leave without her. She told me I had to get him out before I even thought about her. I agreed to it, eventually, and carried the old guy out. He was just as devastated as me, crying and shouting when I was only trying to save him. I think he must have been half in love with her or something."

He chuckled, a tear sliding down his cheek, and continued, "I went back in there and realised just how much the fire had burnt her. Right there and then, I knew I wasted my life away not telling her just how much I loved her, to beg for her not to leave me behind, to make her promise she would be here. I wasted years of it all and nothing can take it back anymore. I managed to get her out but it was too late then. She died in my arms on the way to the hospital."

It was several moments that had passed before I could push the words out of my lips, "I-I'm sorry. I had no idea."

"No, how could you? I don't know myself why I told you all that. You must have better things to do than to listen to an old codger like me going on about his past."

"It's fine, really. And I was the one who asked you about it," I reminded him.

"I'd give anything to be young again," he sighed, wistfully, "Have the rest of my life unplanned, waiting to fold out as time goes. The adventure wears off and all that's left is the future."

"I get that. You could still chase after it if it's really what you want. It's not too late."

His eyes glittered as I said it, "I knew it. I knew you weren't like the rest of them."

"Like who?" I titled my head to the side.

"People in general. They take one look at me and know I'm a goner. That I've screwed my life up and now I've got nothing to show for it. No wife, no kids, no family. I've got no one and that isn't as much of a secret I'd like it to be."

I shook my head, "You can prove them wrong. You can do something with the rest of your life."

"What life?" he laughed, "It's all gone. It was gone the moment I lost her in that fire."

He tucked the newspaper away into the drawer and lay back on his pillow, closing his eyes, "Would you hold my hand, just for a little bit?"

"Yeah, I-I guess so." His hand outstretched, seizing hold of mine. In that moment, I could feel multiple burns and wounds on his skin collected over the years: some from the army, some from his work as a fireman and the rest from the loss of his fiancée.

A tingle spread through my fingers, working its way to the rest of my body. Lethargy hit me like a bullet, pushing through my skin to the bones and joints. I ached with every painful movement I struggled to take. Wrinkles and dark spots took over the skin on my arms, spreading further out. I felt myself ageing by more than sixty years in just a few seconds. My fingers trembled violently as they pulled away from Alfie's, dropping to my side.

I studied him carefully as lay in bed, as youthful as he was in the photograph. He was now a deliriously handsome young man, in his late twenties, from the senior he was only moments ago. His deep eyes were a baby kitten-grey shade and perfectly shaped with bushy, thick eyebrows resting above. His shiny, slick hair, combed back with an endless supply of hair gel, was a majestic jet black with a clean cut. I then caught sight of myself in a mirror and my hand flew to my mouth, sending shivers through me.

My tanned skin looked as though a discarded, wrinkled paper bag had left itself to rot. My hazel eyes had grown dull and cloudy, from the many years that were now behind me. My back was hunched as it stooped down, as if I was carrying several invisible weights on them. My thinning hair was a faded grey colour and my lips, once a light pink, were dry and cracked.

Me and Alfie, we'd swapped ages. I just didn't know how that worked. No wait, he asked for me to hold his hand. It must be his power. He did this.

"What the hell did you do?" I breathed, my voice unrecognisable. It took all my energy to force the words out of my mouth.

He pushed himself off the bed, tugging me closer to it, "I still have a chance. To do something. To make something out of my life. I'm going to find her."

"You can't," I frowned in confusion, "She's gone. She died in that fire."

"I thought so too. But I've seen her around. I think she's come back for me. So that we can be together now, even though we couldn't before."

"That's not possible. Not if she died all those years ago."

He shook his head, lifting me into the bed, "But it is. You've seen her. It's the volunteer who came in here before."

"The volunteer?" I echoed in disbelief, "You can't do that. She's not your wife."

"She looks just like her though- how she wears her hair and the colour of her eyes. It's almost like she's come back for me. They have the same name." He produced the newspaper from the drawer, and showed me the name 'Lillian Geller'. "I always shortened her name to Lily. This isn't a coincidence. It was meant to be."

"It's not the same person," I pointed out, struggling to get the words out, "She's a lot younger than you. The age that you really are. This isn't you."

He shrugged, "It is now. I have to get my wife back. I'm sorry."

"You can't leave me like this." Tears stung my eyes, threatening to flood, "I haven't done anything yet. I've got nothing to show for myself. No job, no kids, no husband. I don't have a future ahead of me. I'm just a random ASBO delinquent whose life doesn't get much better than community service. You can't do this to me. Please, please, don't do this."

"I was just like you. But I left it too late. I need to get out there and live for once. I owe it to myself to get her back."

"No, no. This can't be happening. I don't have anything left. I-I don't...have anyone."

"Then no one's going to even notice you're gone. I have to do this. I'm sorry."

He dropped a kiss on my forehead and left the room, in search for the volunteer. My fingers dug deep into my wrist, not caring about the blood seeping out of the tiny fissure.

It was better than the aching emptiness slowly spreading through my chest, making its way through my whole being so now it physically hurt me.


	8. Chapter 8

I lay in bed, rummaging through the drawers of the bedside table. I was trying to find something about Lily- not the volunteer, but his fiancée- that would appeal to his better side and convince him to swap our ages once more. It took effort to move by a little and when I tried, a sharp pain hit my side, pushing me back down.

A shadowed figure appeared in the doorway, stepping into the room. He did a double-take at me and glanced back towards the corridor. Never in my life had I been relieved to see him. It was Nathan.

"Shit, I've come to the wrong room," he cursed, turning around, "Sorry and all that."

I could barely whisper anymore, "No, wait. Don't go."

"I get that me just standing here is doing a lot for you and you want to feel young again for one night. But I draw the line at shagging women over forty...maybe even fifty."

His voice trailed off towards the end as his light green irises fixed onto me. He came up to me and sat down on the bed, taking hold of my arm, "Paige, is it you?"

He studied the tattoo on the inside of my arm. It was a calligraphic inscription of the word 'wisdom'. There was a story to it, like there was to most things, only he didn't know it. Yet. It was the only tattoo I ever got and it was the reason he worked out this eighty-something year old woman before him was in fact me.

I struggled to answer him, "I-I just need...I have to-"

Eventually, I gave up on trying to form a sentence and instead, placed my arms around his neck, giving him a quick hug.

"What happened?" he demanded, "Who did this to you?"

"Milk and...and a sugar please." I didn't seem to have control over what I saying anymore. Clearly.

"You want a cup of tea?" He brought the kettle from the desk and turned it on.

"I remember you," I whispered, "I always liked you. But you didn't know. You were always an idiot. I thought I should remind you in case you ever forgot. Not that you're an idiot since you already knew that, but that I liked you. And I still do."

What the hell was I even saying?! I had no idea. He had no idea. But that didn't stop me from telling him. Oh no. This was real. It was actually happening. In all my life, I never expected to be here. An eighty-something year old woman talking to a guy much younger than me, letting him know that I always liked him. And it was Nathan who I was saying this to. Something had to be wrong.

"Always, huh?" He threw me a mischievous grin.

"Have you made that cup of tea yet?" I checked.

He poured in some milk and added a spoonful of sugar, "Patience. You still need to tell me who did this to you."

"I want my tea. And maybe some salmon...and egg. Hmm, salmon."

"What the fuck are you talking about? Going on about salmon and egg with everything that happened to you. You might as well be a bloody vegetable. No offence."

I was on the verge of falling asleep, "I'm just...just so tired. Please don't-don't be mad at me."

"Is that what you thought, that I'm mad at you?" he sighed, "I'm not."

He fluffed the pillows, gesturing for me lie down. Pulling on the duvet, he tucked me inside the bed and took out an iPod from his pocket. He smiled as he handed it to me, "Here. It's got a few shit songs for you to listen to. I'm guessing you're more a fan of Beethoven now."

"Thank you," I murmured, taking it from him, "Is the tea ready?"

"You and your damn tea. I shouldn't have left you. I'm sorry." He leaned in and pressed his lips to my cheek, imprinting a small kiss.

"You had a volunteer to shag, remember?" Now, _this_ was more like something I'd bring up.

He chuckled, softly, passing me a cup, "It didn't really work out with her anyway. I think she might be blind- or a lesbian. I mean, have you looked at me?"

I turned away from him, smiling to myself. A short while later, the earphones Nathan had given me were plugged into each ear. His iPod was set to 'Shuffle' and there was one song that caught my attention as it began to play.

_Oh, this has got to be the good life_

_This had to be the good life_

_This could really be a good life_

_Good life_

_I say, oh_

_Got this feeling that you can't fight_

_Like this city is a fine night_

_This could really be a good life_

_A good, good life_

Good or not, my life was over. And I didn't even know what my past had been like. Had I managed to achieve something worthwhile? A stable job, a doting husband or beautiful kids. It was a dream of mine to venture out on a quest for all three and now, it seemed it would be like that forever. Just a dream. A broken dream of mine. Like most of them were.

Without realising, I fell asleep while listening to the track on his iPod. A faint hum of songs played in the background and minutes later, the volume was increased drastically.

My eyes flew open, my fingers trying to find the borrowed set of earphones. I tore them out of my ears and paused the music, looking up to notice a dark figure lurking just outside the room. I searched the room for Nathan, who had kindly decided to shit over everything he'd said to me before and was nowhere to be seen.

"Nathan?" I whispered, even though I knew it wasn't him. And I was right.

His appearance became more noticeable as he walked inside, collapsing into one of the armchairs. It was Alfie. Or at least, the young version of him. Sort of like an Alfie 2.0.

"It's me." He was just stating the obvious now, "Alfie, remember?"

"You. You came back." I was hopeful that maybe he was going to change us back.

He got out a tissue and dabbed at my lips, "Look at you. I didn't mean for it to happen like this. I love her."

"And I know that, but this isn't fair on me."

"I've waited my whole life to find her again. Not saving her when I had the chance was stupid of me. Now that I've got her, I...I can't just let her go again."

I shook my head, "No, don't do this to me again. I can't do anything. It's an effort to even breathe right now, let alone talk to you. Please."

"I'm so sorry." As the words left his mouth, I reached out and grabbed his arm, intent on not letting go. He struggled against my grip, freeing himself easily, "Goodbye, Paige."

"Help me. Don't leave me like this! Don't. I've got nothing!" I shouted after him as he left the room, not giving me a second thought.

I suddenly felt desperate enough to do anything if it got me away from here. My chest tightened into an orb, similar to the way it did during a panic attack. Heat spread throughout my body, an uncomfortable warmth making its way to every inch of me. The dressing gown pricked the skin on my arms and when I tried to remove it, a crushing pain flooded the left side of my chest. The ache spread from my chest to the left arm, then to my back and abdomen. A shortness of breath followed and when it hit, I gasped for air. My life was hanging in the balance and I had no control over it anymore. The thought alone scared the hell out of me.

Two nurses came into the room, dressed in their uniform, and gesturing to each other.

"Millie, call an ambulance. She's having a heart attack!" One of them checked my pulse, counting the heartbeats using their watch.

The other got out her phone, tapping out the three numbers most people never want to have to dial, "Hello? Ambulance please. This woman's having a heart attack."

The first nurse hauled me up from where I was resting, supporting my back with a pillow, "Stay as calm as you can. It's all going to be fine. Try to move if it hurts you though." She fiddled with the knot tying my dressing gown, loosening it slightly.

"Is she allergic to aspirin?" the second asked, getting out some tablets from one of the drawers.

"I don't even know who she is. She must be new here." Turning back to me, she poured out a glass of water, "Are you allergic to any medicine?"

I shook my head with great effort as the pain had now reached the base of my neck as well.

She passed me an aspirin tablet, instructing me to chew on it instead of swallowing it whole. I was covered with a blanket to keep warm as they waited for the emergency services to arrive.

One of them ran out, dragging a wheelchair into the room just minutes later. She adjusted me into it, pushing her foot down on the lock. They gathered up everything on the bed, including Nathan's iPod and the earphones he lent me. And I started to feel worse right then. Nausea hit me like the great plague and even though I kept gagging, nothing would come out. It was an endless hell built in a few hours, only for me to live in.

As they carted me out of the room, I didn't really see the point in holding on any longer. The last thing I saw before I fell unconscious was Nathan, carrying a plate with a bagel on it.

The bagel, which had salmon and egg as the filling.


	9. Chapter 9

_Beeep. Beeep. Beeep. Beeep. _

I wanted to die. Nothing else seemed to matter anymore. I was beaten once and for all and now, I waited to be rescued. Rescued by the calling of Death.

"Anytime now."

"Mmmm."

"Open your eyes."

"Mm. Let me sleep."

"Paige, I know you can hear me. Now open your eyes so I can see them."

I brought a hand up to my head, massaging it lightly before opening my eyes. I glanced around with a slight idea to where I was. It looked like a hospital room; the pale coloured walls being the main giveaway. My focus was drawn towards the person sitting at my bedside. It was a tousle-haired Irish boy who I had never been happier to see in my entire life.

"Beautiful."

I narrowed my eyes, deciding to let it go, "Where am I?"

"Hospital. You passed out two hours ago, during the heart attack. No one knew who you were- not even the nurses who got you here in the first place."

"That's because this isn't me. I'm not this person. I've been left here to die while he lives the rest of my life for me."

"Who's done this to you?"

"It was him. He-He was right there. Standing in front of me, back at the home. I just don't know where he is now."

"The others are on their way here."

"Who did you tell them I was?" I asked, dreading his response.

"My gran. I didn't have much of a choice. Oh, and if anyone asks, your name is Paige Young; not whatever your last name is."

"Everdeen."

"But it's not that anymore; so what is it?" He gestured for me to answer.

I had death in mind as I said the name, "Young."

And that was when I realised people treat a three-year old and an eighty-something year old in pretty much the same way. They need to be looked after and cared for; have someone to feed them in case the pre-chewed tuna paste dribbles out of their mouth and use something to help with their irregular bowel movements: toddlers had their potty training and like me, old people had bed pans.

The four of the others hurtled into the room, closing the door behind them- Alisha, Simon, Kelly and Curtis.

"Is that Paige?" Alisha stepped nearer to the bed, placing a hand on the duvet.

Nathan gave her a nod, turning back to me.

"Are we absolutely sure it's her?" Curtis asked, doubtful.

"She has these glitches, where sometimes she remembers a bit about who did this and sometimes, nothing at all."

"How did you find out anyway?"

He reached out for my arm and pushed up the sleeve of the dressing gown, revealing the tattoo on my arm, "Look. She had this the day we met her. It's Paige. I know it is."

"She's got to be about eighty," Alisha supplied, "Maybe even more."

"I'll tell you what's happened here," Simon began, "The storm. This will be something to do with the storm. Maybe there was another one somewhere."

Curtis glanced at him, "Really?"

"Yeah."

"You think so?"

"Mm-hm. It's the only thing that makes sense."

"Well, thanks for the heads-up, Weird Kid," Nathan shook his head.

A male nurse hurtled into the room, wearing a plain uniform. He was pushing a storage trolley with medication lining it, with IV drip bags attached to either side of it.

"She needs to rest now. Visiting hours are over."

The four of them stood up and walked outside, giving me a curt wave. Nathan leaned down and whispered, "I'll come back tomorrow."

"Bye." I turned to look at the nurse, trying to place his name. I was sure the two of us had met somewhere before; only I didn't know where.

He left the medical trolley at the foot of the bed and walked round it. He stood by my bedside, an all-too memorable smirk on his lips, "It's okay. There's no need to panic."

And that was when it dawned upon me that this was Alfie. I opened my mouth to shout, to call out for someone- anyone- but he clapped his hand over it before any sound could escape.

"We're going to be together. Me and Lily." His hand fell to his side but I couldn't find it in me to cry for help, "I know you'd be happy for me."

There was nothing left to do but give up, "I am."

"But I can't risk you ruining everything." He lifted a pillow from the side and clamped it over my mouth, restricting the air supply.

I groaned in effort, trying to push him away from me. My legs were flailing around, kicking the duvet off my body, all in a desperate attempt to escape from his hold. Muffled screams rang out but it was too late now. No one could hear me. No one would even know.

Or at least, that's what I thought.

Nathan burst through the door at that moment, tearing Alfie off of me and pushing him against the wall, "What the fuck are you doing to her, man?!"

"I made a deal with her. It's my power. I can swap ages with people."

He loosened his grip on Alfie, taking a step back.

"I knew it was her from the minute I saw her," Alfie began, talking to me now, "Lily. She was my volunteer. I never got married. I-I fell in love with her though."

"Not with that fit volunteer?"

He nodded, a warm smile on his face, "That's her, my Lily. It was just never meant to be. Not for us."

"What if I told her what you've been doing?" Nathan challenged, "'Cos then she'd see you for what you really are."

"Please don't tell her."

He walked up to me, taking hold of my arm, "You alright, Paige? It's going to be fine."

Alfie followed close behind, sitting down at my bedside. I flinched away, moving closer to Nathan.

"It's okay," he assured me, looking at Alfie, "Do it. Change her back."

He hesitated for a moment, not sure if he should go through with it.

"Do it or I tell her everything."

His arm outstretched towards mine, realising when he was beaten. I shook my head, glancing up at Nathan.

"Take his hand. It's okay."

I slid my fingers into his hand, closing my eyes for a brief moment. The same tingle began to grow in my fingers, making its way around my entire being. The pain and lethargy in my bones and joints faded into nothingness. The wrinkles and dark spots, which used to cover every inch of my drained skin, was nowhere to be found. It had all gone back now. Back to Alfie.

He stood in front of me with creases under his eyes and withered grey hair.

We settled him into the hospital bed, folding in the corners of the sheets. He looked at me, his fingers reaching out to my cheek. I returned his smile, dropping a kiss on the palm of his hand.

"It's alright, Alfie," I promised, "You found her again. I'm just sorry you couldn't be with her this time. She loves you. And she always will."

A short while later, Nathan and I left the hospital, walking back to the community centre.

"What's that? Are you thanking me for saving your arse back there?" He raised an eyebrow, a smirk playing on his lips.

"Yeah, guess I should. How did you know it was Alfie?"

"It just sort of clicked part way. I did wonder where he'd got to."

There was pure sarcasm in my voice, "Genius, Sherlock."

"It was regular fucking CSI shit. I should work for MI9 for a living, you know. Do all of that undercover spy crap on people. And wherever the missions take me, the pussy will follow."

I nodded, "True. A secret agent can be very hot."

His grin was wider than his face, "You think so?"

"Yeah," I paused, deciding not to tell him the rest:

_But only if it's you._


	10. Chapter 10

Power comes with a lot of strings attached to it. A superpower goes above and beyond that. It needs so much control from the person using it that it's near impossible to tell when you have none left.

We were out doing community service- just me, Kelly, Simon and Curtis.

"Where's Alisha and Nathan?" Kelly asked, draining the water from her mop. We were scrubbing graffiti from the walls outside the community centre.

Simon placed a hand on his forehead, "Out helping this woman. Doing her washing, ironing her clothes, that kind of thing."

"Not another OAP is it?" Curtis turned to him, dragging the mop across the window.

Let's say that none of us were thrilled to be spending our company with an OAP after what happened to me; especially not an OAP with the power to change ages with someone.

"No, don't think so. It's a middle-aged woman who's agoraphobic. She never goes outside her own house. Finds it dangerous that way."

"Who can blame her?" I shrugged, "There's a lot to be scared of out here. Probation workers gone mental and OAPs who think a volunteer at their home is their dead fiancée."

Curtis glanced at me, a mystified look on his face.

"It's a long story."

We carried on, soaking the mop in the dirty water and trying to remove the graffiti sprayed on the window outside. The words sounded quite ominous: _Hell Is Coming_. But maybe there was a double meaning to it. It could be that literal hell from below would invade the earth and that would be the end of the human race as we knew it. Or it could just be pure, mindless vandalism done by a drunken youth on their way home from a club nearby.

"We've got time," is his response, "Not like any of us are going anywhere."

He held out the bucket, full of soapy water, and I reached to take it from him.

"You're so damn hot. I need to touch every inch of your smoking-"

I let go of the bucket and it dropped on the ground, the water collecting around our feet.

"What the fuck was that?!" I demanded.

Kelly eyed him up and down, "You started getting your dick out."

He turned away from us, doing up the zip on his jumpsuit.

"It happened when both of you were holding onto the bucket. When he was passing it to you a minute ago," Simon pointed out.

It wasn't even my power. Putting someone into a kind of sexual frenzy wasn't my power to be used. It was Alisha's. I hadn't even borrowed her power recently. It happened without me needing to. And that was it. I might as well have lost control of my power because I didn't know what the hell was going on anymore. I wasn't even focusing on Alisha when it happened, like I'd had to do every time I wanted to mimic someone's power. But not this time. This time, it was already there.

"This shouldn't be happening." Panic filled my thoughts, demanding an answer.

"I thought the power mimicry thing only lasted an hour," Curtis reminded me.

"It does. Sometimes, even less than that. There's no way it can stay with me for this long. I haven't used my power on her for about a month."

"Alisha's power only works if she touches someone," Simon raised an eyebrow, "You didn't even have to touch him."

Kelly nodded, dropping her mop into the bucket, "Yeah, that's right. He passed you the bucket and it was only when the two of you were carrying it, that he was turned on by you."

I looked down at my trainers, now soaked through with water, and the cuffs of my jumpsuit were drenched as well, "I need to go and get cleaned up."

The community centre was eerily quiet. Or maybe not so eerie, bearing in mind there was no one inside with me. I pushed through the door to the changing room, undoing the buttons of the jumpsuit. I dragged it along to the toilet, me in a loose t-shirt and denim shorts, and opened the taps at the sink. Water poured out of them as I scrubbed at the bottom cuffs of the jumpsuit with a towel, washing away the dirt. I peeled the trainers away from my sopping wet feet, which had plain socks covering them.

I was trying to distract myself from the one thought eating away at me: that I didn't have any control of my power anymore and that in fact, it was the other way round. Maybe now, it was the power that was in control of me. The idea sent shivers through me as I wrung out the jumpsuit and left it on the bench inside the changing room.

"Paige!" Nathan's voice broke me out of my reverie.

I noticed him leaning against the vending machine, slamming his fist against it to get a packet of crisps to drop out of the slot at the bottom.

He changed tactics, now shaking the machine violently until something edible fell out, "Come on, baby! Come on. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah! Come on! Yes!"

A can of Red Bull was eventually knocked down.

"Is that your dinner?" I gestured to the rummage of snacks in his hand.

"Starter," he held up a bar of chocolate, "Main course," he pointed to the crisps, "Dessert," he waved a packet of cheese bites in the air, "And a nice refreshing beverage to wash it down."

"You can't live on this shit. If you wanted to come round, I could make you some dinner."

He debated it for a second, "What are you cooking?"

"Beans on toast. Maybe some cheese to go on it."

"Oh, I didn't realise you were a trained chef." There was nothing but sarcasm in those words.

I sighed, "Do you want to come or not?"

"Are you asking me round for sex?" His eyes glinted towards me, a grin on his face.

"Oh, forget it. I'll see you tomorrow."

I began walking to the double doors at the entrance, with him in tow. Simon came into view from behind the door of the changing room and Nathan turned to him.

"She's cooking 'dinner' for me, man. I think I'm in there. Yeah."

A short while later, we were eating beans on toast on the sofa, the noise from the radio playing in the background.

"Your beans on toast are cooked to perfection."

I smiled at him, "I wanted to be a breakfast chef when I was younger. It was all I could ever think about- going to work every morning with an apron and a proper chef's hat."

"What happened to the dream?"

"It ran out when I decided to get an ASBO. No one's going to employ us, any of us. There are criminal records in our name telling people to not give us a job."

His eyes lit up, "See, that's why we need a plan."

"What sort of plan?"

"A plan to break into the police station and get rid of the criminal records in our name. We could burn them or something. And then no one's the wiser."

"Yeah, but that way, we could end up in a youth prison."

He nodded towards me, tearing open the packet of cheese bites. He dropped a few of them onto the beans, placing the rest to the side, "Not if we're careful."

"You, careful?" I echoed in disbelief.

"Think about it, yeah? We could get right away with no criminal record to our name. By the time they figure it all out, we could be on the other side of the Earth."

"It's not going to get you a one-way plane ticket to Australia."

"Do you want some cheese bites to go on your beans?"

I narrowed my eyes at him, "No, thank you."

"Just try and you might like it," he shrugged, "Sharing is caring and all that. And you introduced me to grapefruit so I thought I'd do the same, but with cheese bites on beans."

"Cheese bites on beans?" I echoed in disbelief, "It's not a thing."

"It will be someday. Copyrighted by Nathan Young."

"Such an idiot," I whispered, not meaning for him to overhear.

He pulled a face, acting hurt, "Hey, there's no need to get personal. I have feelings too, you know."

"Then why do you give everyone else so much grief? Especially Simon."

"I'm just screwing around."

"Well, he doesn't see it like that. He takes some of it to heart. I know he does."

"Are you in love with him?"

I smiled at him, determined to not give in, "Why- are you?"

"Jesus," he breathed.

"Let it go, then."

"Alright. I'll leave your sad boyfriend alone."

"Good."

He paused, dropping a single cheese bite onto my plate, "You're jealous, anyway."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"It's written all over your face. Your little boyfriend can never match up to this." He gestured to himself, "So, that's why you want me to leave him alone. Not give him false hope of what he could have been. Because you can't improve on perfection. Huh?"

"Yeah." I glanced at him as he flexed his 'bicep', trying not to laugh.

"Look, but don't touch."

"You're so shit at this. How did you ever get laid?"

He shook his head, grinning at me, "I...get girls really, really drunk."

"You can stay here tonight," I put a finger to his lips, "But no funny business, okay? I'll be in my room and you can sleep on the sofa. I can get you like a blanket or something."

"And there's no shagging involved?" he checked, pulling a face.

"Shagging isn't a part of the deal. But a proper breakfast is. And by proper, I mean a cereal bar and maybe an apple. How does that sound?"

"Almost perfect."

I woke up halfway through the night, padding out to the kitchen for a glass of water. The clock hanging on the wall let me know it had just gone past two in the morning. I glanced at Nathan, who was fast asleep on the sofa. He was sprawled across it, with his right hand dangling over the side and his foot just about touching the carpeted floor. His dark, curly hair was messier than usual as his head rested on a cushion and his light green irises hid from mine under his eyelids. I picked up a spare blanket from inside my cupboard and threw it over him, tucking it around his body.

And with that, I decided to call it an almost perfect night.


End file.
